‘The Blues Brothers’ heading back to television

The Blues Brothers, Elwood and Jake, are set to return to their original home of television, if Dan Aykroyd can successfully pitch the idea to American networks.

Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi‘s ex-wife, Judy, own the TV rights to Jake and Elwood and, as reported by Variety, are currently pitching the idea of a new show. On the subject of The Blues Brothers return, Judy Belushi said:

I think these are great American characters. We want to keep them alive. We chose to introduce them as new characters but do it in an way that they have some history, have some life behind them.

The Blues Brothers started their life on Saturday Night Live in 1978 with a series of sketches. These sketches then led to an album, ‘Briefcase Full of Blues’.

From the album came the movie. In 1980, Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi teamed up with director John Landis to make the cult classic featuring musical numbers from James Brown, Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles.

Dan Aykroyd and John Landis attempted to revamp The Blues Brothers in 1998 with Blues Brothers 2000. The film was met with critical derision and appalling box office returns.